Today was another visit to Hackfall Woods where the task was
“ Vista Clearance”. The line of sight to be cleared was between Mowbray Point and The Ruin, and Fisher’s Hall. 13 NCVs and Mike, a Hackfall volunteer, together
with our leader Paul, set forth with a selection of loppers, bow saws,
slashers, ropes (what on earth could they be for?) and hard hats. Thoughts of
sitting comfortably on scenic benches at various viewpoints, with a flask of
coffee to hand, looking at the beauty of the countryside flooded our minds -
well, what else does vista mean but extensive views? These idyllic thoughts
were quickly dispelled when we approached the first part of the task.
A 40 foot waterfall was to be unearthed from
underneath the undergrowth on the hill. A group of intrepid “mountaineers” set
off with loppers, saws, ropes, hard hats, ice axes, crampons (no - I’m only
jesting re the latter 2 pieces of equipment); the excitement was mounting! What
would the rest of us be faced with?
At a path junction we looked down towards Fisher’s Hall and
there was our task - to remove saplings and thick “overgrown undergrowth”
between where we were standing and the ancient, but attractive ruin. We hurried
down the path, dumped our bags, picked up our weapons and began clearing the
plants, amongst which were enormous horsetails.
Slowly the NCVs work their way up the hillside, lopping and slashing as they go.
Paul and Dean carefully prune a tree. Little do they
realise that the whole thing will be later removed!
Soon after starting there
were cries of “just look at this” as we uncovered masses and masses of
beautiful fungi, much of which was covering tree trunks and stumps. The amount
of fungus was amazing!
Editor's note - we now think that this fungus is honey fungus - not good news! Perhaps someone else could help us out here and give us better news?
Everything stops for lunch!
The river raged below us - the
level seemed to rise during lunchtime!
By 2pm the swathe of “vista clearance” was completed.
The final result - a clear line of sight from
the top path down to Fisher's Hall.
The
intrepid waterfall “mountaineers” had returned unharmed and successful; 3
cascades of water were now flowing freely down the hillside looking lovely.
Up at the forty foot falls Tony (the new),
Jan, Mike and Paul get busy scaling the cascade and
clearing any debris or encroaching scrub.
Mike inspects the falls from close quarters
and Jan makes it to the top of the falls, thanks to his trusty stick.
Another final result - the falls can now be
seen by all the woodland visitors.
Back at Fisher’s Hall, one final task was being completed. A VERY large tree (editor's note - the one so carefully pruned at the start of the day) was being felled, the use of ropes was employed in order to try to assist in
pulling the tree down more quickly. The whole scene looked more as if a “Go
Ape” adventure playground was being constructed. Helpful comments were shouted
down from higher up the bank and finally, after a bit of a tussle, the tree was
beaten into submission. “Timber” could be heard echoing round the clearing as
the lumberjacks whooped with glee at their success.
The final task of the day really starts to warm up as the final tree
shows some reluctance to part company with its sawn through stump.
Everyone else looks on from above.....
..... and some even lend a hand with the tug of war.
Vista Clearance was completed for the day. We all felt very
pleased with the results that had been achieved in a relatively short space of
time. Now, where were those benches?
Ros K
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